The famous, but now dead-horse 'sonogram' quip was recently cluelessly revived by TA in U.S. ladies thread. It's more relevant to this thread:
There was nothing "evil" implied. Wagner was saying that she was competing with skaters who were in the womb when she started to compete seriously. It wasn't that much of an exaggeration when she said it.
I always thought the sonograms comment was made because everyone in the media always asked her about being old compared to everyone else. I thought it was funny. ?
Right. Ashley was constantly being asked again and again and again about younger competitors, especially younger Russian ladies competitors. I appreciate her attempt to brush off the relentless media queries with a try for humor. But some Ashley haters are relentless in making mountains out of molehills, ad infinitum.
Wagner used the term "sonograms" to describe "young russian girls", not "all junior girls". Her comment is gone from the internet, or not easy to find, except from this website, where they use Wagner's phrase in their text.
https://fs-gossips.com/us-nationals-2016-review-ladies/
"The main problem of all American top girls is that they can deliver a great performance only when it’s already nothing to loose, when is no expectations, or when they already had a bad a short program. And you can’t win Worlds (or a medal there) with such a mindset! With such an attitude
Russian sonograms (c) will jump over you and won’t even notice." ...
You are direct quoting the comments of a reviewer from the old FS Gossip article you linked. The exact quote and context of Ashley's response (and the press query) are not included in the source you linked. But anyone who was following skating at the time and read the original reference should have sense enough to understand the humorous intent, and the fact that Ashley also praised the technical prowess of her competitors.
Being repeatedly asked about Russian baby ballerina phenoms can become tedious. So, on one particular occasion, Ashley responded with the humorous, tongue-in-cheek reference to her young competitors as 'sonograms.' The context and meaning was humorous, not derogatory nor dismissive toward her younger rivals. Any dismissiveness you might interpret was actually being directed by Ashley toward the journalists' repeated, broken-record queries. And in turn, the reference was also a bit of self-mocking by Ash for the way she was always being labeled 'old' despite being in her early twenties.
What's getting way old and not so funny about now is your repeated trotting out of this 'dead horse' incident/ humorous quip.
A lot of those accomplishments were in fact products of their youth. Sot, Tuk, Lip and Rad emerged as jump machines during Ashley's peak times and while they all had moments of utter brillance in competition, they lost their consistencies once they grew / bodies changed. Same can be said about the last batch of 'sonograms' (Meissner, Zhang, Flatt, Nagasu). None had the longeivity that Ashley had.
I believe Ashley was extremely proud to have been the lady in a sea of girls and to have a decent level of longeivity near the top. The only others who were close were Leonova, and also Tuk and Nagasu who weren't consistent but have had recent comebacks.
But of the U.S. ladies you name in opposition to Ashley Wagner,
Kimmie Meissner is a year-and-a-half older than Ashley. Meissner did not hang around very long competitively because of injuries. Meissner came up to seniors before Nagasu, Flatt, Zhang and Wagner. Also, let's be honest that Mirai Nagasu ended up having some serious comeback longevity and ultimately her own modicum of success. While I agree with the gist of your post, let's please understand that Nagasu, Flatt, and Zhang are all contemporaries of Wagner's.
This U.S. group of 'sonograms' which includes Wagner, were on the U.S. scene before the whole Russian 'baby ballerina' BS rose up like a faux phoenix. Ashley Wagner indeed was once an understudy to two prized U.S. 'baby ballerinas.'
Further context: Ashley Wagner is only about a year and two months older than Rachael Flatt. And Wagner is two years older than Caroline Zhang and Mirai Nagasu. At 2007 U.S. Nationals, Nagasu and Zhang at ages 13 (soon to be 14) were 1 and 2 in junior ladies, while some fans likely forget that Ashley Wagner at age 15 (soon-to-be 16) placed 3rd behind Nagasu and Zhang. The latter two ladies were heavily touted and over-exposed by U.S. fed and the media, immediately after that competition. Meanwhile, Ashley (as 2007 U.S. junior ladies bronze medalist) would eventually become more competitively successful in seniors, despite the fact she was never seen as having Zhang's and Nagasu's level of overall talent.
Nor was Ashley ever singled out as charmed U.S. fed favorite in the way that Rachael Flatt was for a brief period of time.
Ashley Wagner had her own unique measure of talent as a figure skater, even though it was not overly shiny and outsized. Therefore, Ashley learned that she was the person who had to nurture and maximize her talent. She had to believe in herself and convince renowned coaches that she was worth investing their time in. And even after succeeding against the odds, Ashley had to continue proving herself vs every new U.S. fed fave who shined bright like a diamond. Ashley had to endure and become the sapphire amidst sparkly shooting star diamonds.* Ashley had to pull herself up by her bootstraps and Ash Swag herself to the top by dint of her own desire and hard work. In remarkable fashion, Ashley accomplished these feats and then some by taking her career into her own hands after being written off by TPTB as the also-ran 'almost girl' circa 2010 U.S. Nationals.
*
"A diamond is about the brilliance, fire and scintillation. It is about the sparkle and the light that gets reflected back to the viewer's eye. A sapphire however is more about its inherent body color. It is about looking at the beautiful color and enjoying it for what it is."
Some people have never enjoyed Ashley Wagner for who she is, for her beauty, for her endurance, and for her stellar, self-made career.
)
And the only pedestal she's ever been placed on has been the one she kickass created for herself!
www.instagram.com
twitter.com
www.bostonglobe.com
